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TMUA 2016 · Paper 1 · Question 17 of 20

TMUA 2016 Paper 1 Question 17

Trigonometry — Sign of a product · double angle over an interval. Try it first; the answer and a full worked solution are below.

TMUA 2016 · Paper 1TrigonometrySign of a product · double angle over an interval6 options
It is given that y=(1 + 2cosx)cos 2x for 0 <x<π.

The complete set of values of x for which y is negative is

  1. A0 <x<π4, 2π3<x<3π4
  2. B0 <x<π4, 3π4<x<π
  3. C0 <x<2π3, 3π4<x<π
  4. Dπ4<x<2π3, 3π4<x<π
  5. Eπ4<x<2π3
  6. Fπ4<x<3π4
Show the answer and worked solution
answer · D
  1. A0 <x<π4, 2π3<x<3π4
  2. B0 <x<π4, 3π4<x<π
  3. C0 <x<2π3, 3π4<x<π
  4. Dπ4<x<2π3, 3π4<x<π
  5. Eπ4<x<2π3
  6. Fπ4<x<3π4
It is a product, so track the sign of each factor separately. 1 + 2cosx vanishes at cosx=12, that is x=2π3: it is positive to the left of that and negative to the right. For cos 2x, the angle 2x runs over (0,  2π), so cos 2x is positive on (0,  π4) and (3π4,  π) and negative on (π4,  3π4). The product is negative exactly where the signs differ: on π4<x<2π3 (positive times negative) and on 3π4<x<π (negative times positive).